Compressor and condenser for air, vapors, or gases



June 20,

R. A. NYE

COMPRESSOR AND CONDENSER FOR AIR, VAPORS OR GASES R. A. NYE 2,988,902

June 20, 1961 COMPRESSOR AND CONDENSER FOR AIR, VAPORS OR GASES 2 Sheets-Sheer?l 2 Filed Dec. 29, 1958 United States Patent'C fifice I 2,988,902 COMPRESSOR AND CONDENSER FOR AIR, VAPORS, OR GASES Ralph A. Nye, 411 Isabel St., Los Angeles, Calif. Filed Dec. 29,1958, Ser. No. 783,283 12 Claims. (Cl. 62-505) This invention relates to a compressor or pump for compressing gaseous fluid substance such as a gas, vapor, or air, and one of the objects of the invention is to provide a simple apparatus capable of subjecting the uid substance to contact with the perimeter of a rotor rotating at a relatively high speed, and utilizing the rotation of the rotor to force at a high rate of speed, a succession of charges into the compression pockets or rams Another object is to give the compression pockets or rams a form that will involve a decrease in their crosssection toward their outlets, thereby enabling the pockets themselves to contribute to the compressing effect as the operation of the rotor continues.

Another object is to provide means for delivering a cooling liquid to the outer faces of the walls of the compression pockets or rams to reduce the temperature of the contents of the pockets and increase the efficiency of the compressing operation; also to provide a bath of cooling liquid within the apparatus with a receiver coil immersed therein, that is to say, the coil in which the hot compressed vapors or gas is temporarily held when` they are delivered to it fromthe compressor pockets.

Another object of the invention is to provide the vrotor referred to with features of construction that will enable it to resist the relatively high centrifugal forces developed within it by a rotary speed great enough to ena'ble the periphery of the rotor to exceed the supersonic speed of the gas, vapor, or air that is being compressed.

Further objects of the invention will be evident from a careful reading of the following specification and study of the accompanying drawing.

The invention consists in the novel parts and combinations of parts, to be described hereinafter, all of which contribute to produce an efficient pump or compressor and condenser for fluid substances, such as a gas, vapor,

or air.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is described in the following specification, while the broad scope of the invention is pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical section through an apparatus embodying this invention .adapted to concentrate and condense Water vapor evaporated from sea water.

lFIGURE 2 is a horizontal section taken about on the line 2-2 of FIGURE l showing the rotor in plan and the housing for the compression pockets or rams that form an annulus around the perimeter of the rotor.

FIGURE 3 is a vertical section through the bank of compression pockets; this view is upon a considerably larger scale than is used in FIGURE l in order to disclose the invention more clea-rly. l

In practice it is preferable to mount the rotor for rotation about a vertical axis and to provide its periphery with an annulus of vanes having pitch at an angle to the horizontal, operating to draw down the air or vapor above them and force it into the compressor pockets. This, of course, develops an upward thrust of the rotor and its shaft.

One ofthe objects of the invention is to providevariable counterbalancing means for compensating for this thrust. As a step toward establishing a condition in which the weight of the rotor and its attached parts will be absorbed, so that no large step bearing is essential, but a condition `is reached Where the weights referred to are carried in 2,988,902 Patented June 20, 1961 2 practically a oating relation at least as to the rotor itself, between stops on its shaft.

The expedient reduces friction to a minimum, and is feasibly attained largely 4by reason of the fact that in practice the rotor would-be run at a substantially uniform speed. l.

In practice, also the apparatus about to be described more in detail would be employed in conjunction with solar boilers that would supply water vapor to it for effecting the recovery of potable water from sea water.

Referring to the drawing a casing 1, preferably of spherical form, is provided of steel, and formed of a lower section -1a and upper section 1b meeting together on a diametrical pla-ne where anges 2 enable the casing -halyes to be connected by bolts and nuts 3.

A vertical shaft 4 passes up from an electric motor 5 the feet 6a of which are secured to the vertical face of a bracket 6 by bolts (not illustrated). The upper end of the bracket has a `foot 7 that may be welded to the lower side of the casing.

Inwardly offset sockets 8 and 9 house ball bearings` 10 for the shaft 4. At about the center of the spherical casing 3 a rotor 11 is mounted, said rotor having a body composed of an upper dished plate 12 and a lower dished plate 13. The edges are attached together by bolts 14. The dished sides of the plates are together so as to form an inner chamber 15 within the body of the rotor. v

These dished plates 12 and 13 have hubs 16 and 17, respectively, which are fixed to the shaft by means of keys 18. At the perimeter or periphery of the upper dished plate 12 a circle of panel-form vanes or blades 19 are attached. They are preferably spaced equidistant from each other, somewhat as indicated in FIGURE 2. These varies have preferably a 45 degree pitch with re spect to the plane in which their lower edges 30 lie, as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3; that is to say, their forward edges 20, are preferably of knife edge type, and they are also of triangular cross section with rounded butt ends 21. i

As indicated in FIGURE 3, the butt ends 21 extend along an angle of about 45 degrees to the horizontal plane in which the disc-formed body 22 of the rotor lies. These vanes may be made, if desired, integral with an upper disc 23. To the under side of this disc a disc-form plate 24 is secured by bolts 25. The presence of these bolts 25 enable the upper plate 12 tofbe removed for redressing the vanes wheneversuch 'an operation is necessary.

Just below the butt edges 21 of the vanes a bank 26 of compression pockets 27 lies. The bodies of these pockets are spaced slightly from each other and each pocket is formed between two conical plates, that is to say, the plates 28 are on the upper side, and similar conical plates 29 constitute their lower walls.

Furthermore, these pockets have mouths 30 lying alongside of each other in a plane adjacent to the path of the butt edges 21 of the vanes. It is preferable to divide the pockets 27 which of course, are circular, into a number of smaller pockets. In the present instance they are divided into six pockets each. This is to as'- sist movement of the vapors out of the compression pockets 27. The dividing walls 3-1 are guide walls foi the gas or air being compressed, and extend on lines that make an angle of approximately 45 degrees to a radius line from shaft 4. A From the mouths of the pockf ets they extend rearward with respect to the direction of rotation as indicated in full lines in FIGUR- E 2.

The walls 28 and 29 for the pockets 27 are plates converging toward each other in a downward direction, and the cross section of the pockets decrease toward their rear ends where they have non-converging portions 32 at which narrow throats 33 are formed, through rafa." A.

' 3 which "the vvapors 'o1' 'any `fluid substances being cornpressed must pass. By` reason of this tapered form of these pockets, tapering as they do in the direction of the flow `in vthe pockets-faway from their mouths-:a Yconsiderable amount of compression ltakes place Yin the *vapors as they pass inwardly and through the narrow throats )33 'at the rear. These narrow throats 33 deliver their contents into manifold 34 spaced uniform distancesA apart at intervals throughout the entire circumference of the bank of pockets that are circular.

In order to reduce the temperature that rises in the vapors due to their becoming compressed in the pockets Z7, I provide means for bringing cooling liquids into contact with the outer faces of the walls 35 of the pockets. For this purpose I provide a plurality of spraytubes 36 which extend inwardly through a circumferential base plate 37, to which the outer ends of the conical plates 35 are secured. At the lower and outer ends of these spray-tubes 36 they stem up from manifolds such as the manifold 38, shown in FIGURE 3; and these manifolds are spaced equidistant throughout the entire circumference of the bank 26 of the compression pockets.

As indicated in FIGURE 2, at their inner ends the spray-tubes carry nozzles 39 which may have a design adapting them to the physical characteristics of the vapor or gas on which this apparatus may be in use.

The bank 26 of pockets is contained in a substantially rectangular housing of plate-form, and having a horizontal cover wall or sill 41 through which a service pipe 42 may extend downwardly to the spray manifold 38.

Of course, the cooling liquid that spurts from the nozzles 39 runs down and through perforations 43 in the base plate 37 where it tinds its way by gravity into a returnpipe 44 that connects up to the upper Wrap 45 of a coil 46 that is immersed in a bath 47 held in the dished bottom 43 of a basin 49 that is preferably mounted within the casing 1. The bottom wrap of coil 46 delivers the iluid substance to a return pipe 46a.

This bath of coolant may be supplied with a relatively cold cooling fluid that is supplied through a pipe coil S0 in the form of a ring which is iirst supplied with the coolant. The ring 50 is supplied by a pipe carrying a valve 52 for controlling the amount of cooling liquid that is necessary to maintain this bath 47 with a level high enough to insure -immersing of the coil 46. This ring 50 has a plurality of short vertical down-pipes 53 that extend down at intervals from the pipe ring 50.

The vapors that are being operated upon by the apparatus may be supplied through an uptake 54 as shown in FIGURE l, leading to the apparatus (not illustrated) and would be from a solar boiler supplying vapors to the interior of the casing 1.

.lust beyond the periphery of disc 24, as shown in FIGURE 3, a cylindrical wall 55 extends downwardly. (see FIGURE l). Its upper edge is integral with the lower side wall of the lowest pocket in the tiers of pockets 27 which are illustrated as four in number. This cylindrical wall 55 constitutes the body of a large cupform vessel which has a bottom 56 the periphery of which is integral with the cylindrical wall 55. The underside of the bottom is provided with a hub S7 carrying Van O-ring 58 that seals off the interior of the cup 59 from the liquid coolant bath 47 in which the coil 46 is immersed.

A similar G-ring 59 is provided at a point where the shaft extends down through the curved bottom 48 of the basin that carries the bath 47.

When the apparatus is in operation the level of the surface of the bath 47 is controlled by the amount of .the coolant that is permitted to flow out through the pair of return pipes 60 which are illustrated as housed within a compartment 61 that is alongside of the uptake 54; through the latter the vapors to be compressed pass upwardly. A dividing wall 62 separates these two compartments.

In practice the two outlet pipes -60 are provided with valves, but these are not illustrated because they would be located beyond the lower end of the two compartments 54 and 61.

It is preferable to form the outer walls 63, as a double wall for the elongated compartments, or ducts 54 and 61. The valves that are to be connected in the pipes 60 enable the temperature of the bath 47 to be controlled by altering the rate at which the coolant is drawn off from the bath, which rate of course depends upon the condition of the two valves in these two pipes 60.

As mentioned above in this specification, on account of the pitch of the vanes and the high speed of their rotation, a considerable pressure is developed on their undersides, and this, of course, has a tendency to lift the rotor 11. In order to control and counterbalance this force when desired, a small receptacle 64 is provid ed that is coaxial with the shaft 4 as shown in FIG- URES 1 and 2.

This receptacle is of cylindrical form and a quantity of pellets 65 is provided to lie upon the bottom of this receptacle; and the weight of this quantity of pellets is, of course, variable as may be desired, because any number of the pellets can be employed as considered necessary. The total weight of these pellets added to the weight of the rotor 11 and the shaft 4, offers a considerable resistance to the upward thrust force that may be developed on the under faces of the vanes.

Just above the upper hub 16 of the rotor 11 and just below its lower hub 17, two adjustable stop-collars 4a and 4b are provided. These stop-collars are shown with conventional clamping means securing them firmly to the shaft, and they serve to limit any up or down movements that may be developed in the rotor 11 by reason of pressures developed under the vanes for the reason just referred to above.

In addition to the uptake 54 for leading in vapors to be compressed, it is desirable to provide a supplementary upper connection to the interior of the casing to be used for compressing air or gas. This additional equipment includes a supply pipe 66 of considerable diameter that connects to a pipe fitting 67 having a short pedestal 68 with a base flange 69 connected to the exterior of the casing -by bolts (not illustrated), mounted in the base ilange 69.

A valve 70 with a handwheel 71 controls the supply of air admitted to the interior of the casing.

Referring again to the pitch of the vanes it should be stated that the vanes may be at plates, and each vane as itpasses the mouth 30 of a compression pocket is disposed in a plane making an angle of approximately 45 degrees with a tangent plane in which the mouth of the pocket approximately lies.

Many other embodiments of this invention may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

l. In a compressor for compressing a fluid substance such as a gas, vapor or air, the combination of a casing having a receiving chamber and a holder for the vapor or gas to be compressed, a rotor mounted within the casing including a vertical shaft carrying the rotor for rotating the rotor, bearings for the said shaft, means for rotating the shaft and rotor at a relatively high speed, said rotor having a plurality of panel-form vanes with pitch disposed in a circumferential zone on the rotor at a distance from the rotor axis, valve means for admitting the uid substance that is to be compressed, to said casing, a bank of compression pockets located in an arc surrounding said vanes, and having inlet mouths adjacent to the path of movement of the vanes, into which the passing vanes force the fluid substance, and thereby elfect compression of the gas, vapor, or air, in said pockets, said compression pockets extending outward and away from their mouths and the path ofthe vanes in a circumferential arc surrounding the path of the rotating vanes and having outlets through which the uid in the pockets is forced by the passing vanes, each of said pockets being formed, and lying between outwardly converging conical side walls, means for collecting the compressed fluid substance flowing from said outlets and for delivering the same to the exterior of the casing.

2. A compressor for compressing a uid substance such as a gas', vapor or air, according to claim 1, in which the interior of each pocket is a duct of gradually diminishing cross-section for the uid substance beyond the said inlet mouths decreasing the volume of the space containing the fluid substance, and thereby raising the pressure of the uid substance before delivering the same through said outlets.

3. A compressor for compressing a fluid substance such as a gas, vapor or air, according to claim 1, in which the said compression pockets have Walls composed of heat conductive material; and also including means for circulating ya relatively cool liquid into contact with the outer surfaces of said compression pockets, thereby increasing the compression effect.

4. A compressor for compressing a fluid substance such as a gas, vapor, or air, according to claim 1, in which the spaces between the walls of adjacent pockets are provided with spaced apart pipe connections attached to the same, and including manifolds connected to the pipe connections for collecting the compressed fluid substance.

5. A compressor for compressing a fluid substance such as `a gas, vapor, or air, according to claim 3 in which the inlet mouths of the pockets are disposed in planes inclined to the paths of movement of the vanes, and the means for circulating the cooling liquid in contact with the outer surfaces of the walls of the compression pockets include a delivery manifold extending across the bank of pockets, and tubular stems connected to the delivery manifold and extending into the spaces between the adjacent pockets to deliver the cooling liquid against the outer faces of their walls.

6. In a compressor for compressing a uid substance such as a gas, vapor, or air according to claim l in which an inner basin is mounted within the casing for catching the cooling liquid that circulates against the outer walls of the compression pockets; and a coil in the basin connected to the said manifolds said coil functioning to collect the compressed uid substance from the compression pockets, and carried immersed in the cooling liquid that collects in said basin from the circulating cooling liquid after its contact with the outer faces of the compression pockets, thereby assisting in electing the condensing of the compressed gases within the said coil.

7. A compressor for compressing a lluid substance such `as a gas, vapor, or air, according to claim 4 in which the said rotor includes a central plate-form body to which the peripheral edges of the said vanes are attached and from which they extend upwardly along inclined pitch lines, said central plate-form body including an upwardly dished plate and a downwardly dished bottom plate with juxtaposed flanges bolted together; and including hubs on said dished plates centering the rotor on the shaft, an adjustable stop-collar attached to the shaft above the upper plate, and a second adjustable stop-collar -attached to the shaft below the lower plate, for enabling the position of the plateform body and the said vanes carried thereby, to be adjusted as to its level, and with respect to, the distance of the vanes from the mouths of the compression pockets, and changable weight means carried by the plate-form central body to compensate for the upward thrust developed by the vanes during their rotation around the axis of the shaft, thereby eliminating more or less the downward thrust exerted by the weight of the rotor.

8. An improved centrifugal type compressor for compressing a lluid substance such as gas, vapor, or air, comprising a rotor, a vertical shaft carrying the rotor, iixed bearings for the shaft, a bank of compression pockets operatively connected to the rotor, a source of power for driving the rotor, -a plurality of vanes mounted on the outer face of the wall `of the perimeter of said rotor to cooperate with the compression pockets, said vanes disposed at a relative high angle of pitch with respect to a horizontal plane, said shaft and source of power operating to drive the rotor so that the linear speed o-f the vanes exceeds the supersonic limit of the iluid substance being compressed, thereby imparting that Velocity to the fluid, and creating a relatively high partial vacuum behind each vane with respect to its direction of advance, as it passes the pockets and thereby causing each vane to drive a full swath of the fluid substance down and outwardly in a general radial direction, and into the compression pockets.

9. A centrifugal type compressor for compressing a fluid substance such as a gas, vapor, or air, according to claim 8, in which the said vanes are disposed at a relatively high angle of pitch with respect to a horizontal plane, and with the plane in which the vane lies disposed so that it passes through a radius line drawn from the axis of the shaft to the perimeter of the rotor at the location of the vane Iand makes a relatively high angle with a vertical plane passing through said radius line, said high angle being sufficient to develop a considerable air pressure on the forward driving faces of the vanes thereby also reducing the centrifugal forces acting upon the vanes.

10. An improved centrifugal type compressor for compressing a fluid substance such as a gas, vapor, or air, according to claim 8 in which the mouths of said compression pcckets are located outwardly beyond the outer edges of the vanes, and are located spaced circumferentially from each other, and the said mouths are also disposed in inclined planes with their axes disposed approximately at an angle of degrees to the paths of the faces of said vanes, `and said pockets being of reduced crosssection in an outward direction so as to operate as means for reducing the volume of the fluid substance as it passes toward the outer ends of the pockets, and increasing the intern-al pressure of the fluid substance by the succession of charges o-f the uid substance yas they are forced into the pockets; `and means for circulating -a relatively cooled liquid into the spaces between adjacent pockets and in contact with the outer faces of the pocket walls to enhance the cooling of the compressed vapors 'and enhance their condensation into a liquid.

111. A compressor for compressing a fluid substance according to claim 1, including guide Walls in the said pockets for the fluid substance, said guide walls extending in a general radial direction from the inlet mouth of each pocket toward the delivery 'end of the pockets, and thereby operating to resist incipient and overcome swirling movement of the substance in the pockets around the axis of the rotor and enhancing the eliciency and speeding up the compression operation.

12. A compressor for compressing -a uid substance according to claim 1l, in which the guide walls incline toward their outer ends forwardly with respect to the direction of rotation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,889,341 Anderson Nov. 29, 1932 2,001,522 Chester May 14, 1935 2,214,086 Rataiczak Sept. 10, 1940 2,666,618 Iaquith Ian. 19, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 604,121 Great Britain June 29, 1948 820,429 Germany Nov. 12, 1951 

